Public Statements

Raoul Wallenberg Centennial Celebration Act

Floor Speech

Mr. BURTON of Indiana. I want to thank NAN and my good friend, GREG MEEKS, for introducing this bill. GREG and I recently were in Budapest, and we were there for a celebration at the statue of Raoul Wallenberg; and it is something that I'll never forget. It was a good time and a very important time.

What do you say about somebody like Raoul Wallenberg or Schindler? These people risked their lives to save people who were going to be killed, going to be put in gas chambers, never to be heard from again. And 6 million people died because there weren't more people like Raoul Wallenberg and Schindler.

So, I just want to say I've heard from my colleagues today the things that I would like to have said, and they said it very well; but I just say, in closing, thank God that there are people who are willing to risk their lives to help their fellow man. There just aren't enough of them. When I look around the world and see the horrible tragedies that are taking place in Africa and elsewhere, it makes you wonder if we're ever going to see people like that again, but thank God we have somebody like Raoul Wallenberg.